PRETORIA, South Africa

Vote counting has begun in Uganda where citizens cast their ballots Thursday in a peaceful general election that will see a new president, members of the parliament, and local government representatives elected.

According to the East African country’s Electoral Commission, over 18 million registered voters took part in the polls described by analysts as “a generational contest.”

There are nine candidates contesting against the incumbent Yoweri Museveni, 76, for the presidency.

Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for over three decades and now seeking a sixth term in office, is facing stiff competition from Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, a popstar-turned-politician, popularly known by his stage name Bobi Wine.

The voting began at 7 a.m. local time (0400GMT) at thousands of polling stations across the country, in events broadcast live by news organizations.

People started queuing up as early as 5 a.m. but most centers reported transportation delays and started polling at 8 a.m.

Biometric voting machines were used at 34,000 polling stations. Once past the biometric verification, voters were directed to three ballot boxes to vote for their district level, parliamentary, and presidential candidates.

In terms of COVID-19 measures, most voters could be seen wearing masks, but the long queues ignored social distancing protocol.

“Vote counting is currently underway and there are no untoward incidents yet,” Hussein Magala, a resident of the city of Mbale, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of the capital Kampala, told Anadolu Agency over the phone.

According to local television reports, vote counting began at about 6 p.m. where polling officials would announce the votes cast for each candidate.

The Electoral Commission is expected to release the first batch of results in the presidential and parliamentary election late Thursday.

So far, a few hitches have been recorded in various places in Uganda, including electoral officials confirming a ballot box being stolen in western Uganda’s Kacherere, Rubaale area in the Ntungamo District. Electoral officials confirmed the incident to local media noting that the elections in such affected areas will be held on Friday, while three people were reportedly arrested following the theft of the ballot box, with over 800 voters affected.

The chairman of Uganda's electoral commission, Simon Mugenyi Byabakama, who was speaking at a news conference in Kampala hailed the electoral process which was fiercely contested, terming it "a success" despite challenges faced due to the coronavirus.

Internet services shut

The government shut access to the Internet on Wednesday evening after an earlier partial suspension of social media sites, claiming the move would maintain calm and avoid any untoward situation in the country, which saw a surge in violence in the run-up to the elections in November.

“We have been cut off from the world. We can’t communicate with our family and business partners oversees. We are in total darkness,” Hussein Magala said.

There were fears of violence across the country as huge military tankers patrolled the streets, causing fears among the populace. In November, police opened fire on protesters demanding the release of Bobi Wine, leading to many deaths.

“Like my wife's, my phone has been blocked and I am unable to receive or make regular calls. I know this is to stop me from communicating to our agents and coordinators. I encourage you comrades to be vigilant as I try to devise ways of reaching out to you,” Bobi Wine said in a tweet Thursday.

Earlier in the day, long queues were seen across Kampala and across the East African country as voters turned out to vote.

The country’s army chief, speaking on National Television, noted that the military has distanced itself from using tanks and other military vehicles, refraining from scaring Ugandan citizens, and added that the military vehicles spotted in a convoy circulating the capital were to assure Ugandans of security and to deter those who had planned to interfere in the elections.

Hope for peace

Speaking to Anadolu Agency over the phone from the Magere Freedom Square polling station, voters called for peace, saying they hope the violence in the country will end.

“I have already voted and I am going home to wait for the results. I am asking my countrymen to respect the majority votes, and not cause violence and deaths like we witnessed in November,” Nancy Namono said.

Hassan Khannenje, the director of the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya, said: “Museveni is fairly popular among the population, especially among the rural folk that comprise more than 70% of Uganda’s population.”

He added: “There hasn’t been any credible opinion poll because of the security challenges and also because institutions in Uganda have not been developed sufficiently to do that.”

This is a generational contest between the young and the old and a cultural clash between rural and urban dwellers, he argued.

The US withdrew as a poll observer over lack of accreditation for its officers by the electoral commission.

* Andrew Wasike in Kenya contributed to this report